February 2001 Newsletter

What’s New at PC Pitstop, February 2001

Greetings! The past couple months at PC Pitstop have been very exciting. Traffic’s up, we’re continuing to get high praise from the press, and we’re looking forward to 2001. But we’re not resting on our laurels: We’re dedicated to making the Pitstop the best PC resource on the Web, so we’ve been hard at work on some cool tools to help you troubleshoot and fix PC problems in faster and more effective ways. Check out our latest features below.

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

• E-mail your test results, troubleshoot PC problems with TechExpress
• Anti-virus update: PITSTOP topples K0URNIK0VA virus, 40 – Love
• Improved test results: Get detailed info on running programs

E-MAIL YOUR TEST RESULTS, TROUBLESHOOT PC PROBLEMS WITH TECHEXPRESS

We’re extremely excited to debut TechExpress, a new feature that lets you now e-mail your Pitstop test results to a friend, colleague, co-worker or your vendor’s support technician–basically anyone who can help solve pesky PC problems that our tests didn’t resolve. Your test results provide an invaluable map of your PC, and sharing them with your friends or support reps can help quickly pinpoint PC problems and avoid the time-crunching headaches of traditional support.

Plus, if you’re a self-helper, TechExpress offers tons of troubleshooting resources and links for all areas of your PC. Chances are, if our tests didn’t resolve a specific problem you’re having, TechExpress’ tips will.

ANTI-VIRUS UPDATE: PITSTOP TOPPLES K0URNIK0VA VIRUS, 40 – LOVE

The ANNA K0URNIK0VA virus, which served up trouble for e-mail systems and computers from the U.S. to Australia, was snagged immediately by PCs with Pitstop-recommended security settings. The virus, which wasn’t detected by even the major AV vendors until after the first round of infections, was sent to PC Pitstop staff several times. However, the proper Outlook security settings plus avoiding opening any unrecognized attachments kept us virus-free.

Some sage advice: Test your system at PC Pitstop, and make sure you follow any advice to adjust your Internet and e-mail security settings. It could save your PC.

Also, make sure you visit our Anti-Virus Center at and run our free virus scan. It’s updated monthly with our list of known “in-the-wild” viruses. The free list (called a signature file) was updated on January 25, so if you ran our scan before then, it’s time to download the update and rescan your system.

IMPROVED TEST RESULTS: GET DETAILED INFO ON RUNNING PROGRAMS

We’ve made an important update to our standard suite of diagnostics. After testing your PC, you’ll notice that the Details and/or Windows portion of your results now includes detailed info on all your running programs (logged during our tests). In addition to seeing which specific EXE files are running, you’ll now see their plain-English names, a description of what they are, plus info on where they start and whether it’s okay to disable them.

Non-essential running programs can be a major system hog, but this new info can help you decide which programs you may be able to exit, and in most cases it’ll show you how to do it.
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ABOUT PC PITSTOP

PC Pitstop, LLC (https://www.pcpitstop.com) was formed in February 2000, and offers users a unique way to make sure their PCs are running fast, stable and secure–all through a free, Web-based interface.

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